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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station 


BULLETIN  NO.  150 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES 


BY  RUFUS  C.  ORRECHT 


URBANA,  ILLINOIS,  AUGUST,  1911 


SUMMARY  OF  BULLETIN  No.    150 

OBJECT. — A  comparison  of  clover  and  timothy  hay  for  farm  horses  at 
work;  effect  of  mixing  ground  grain  with  chaffed  clover  hay;  comparison  of 
alfalfa  hay  with  clover  and  with  timothy  hay,  respectively;  comparison  of  corn 
and  alfalfa  hay  with  a  mixture  of  corn,  oats,  bran,  oil  meal,  timothy  and  alfalfa 
hay;  effect  of  grinding  corn  and  oats  when  fed  with  wheat  bran,  timothy  and 
alfalfa  hay.  .  Page  433. 

PLAN. — Ten  teams  of  horses  were  used  in  the  various  tests.  They  were 
well-bred  grade  geldings,  except  one  team  of  mares,  with  a  predominance  of 
Percheron  blood.  The  initial  weight  per  horse  was  from  1003  to  1560  pounds; 
but  the  horses-  in  the  experiment  proper  only  varied  from  1250  to  1420  pounds. 
In  general  the  plan  was  to  feed  the  two  horses  of  each  team,  simultaneously, 
on  the  respective  rations  to  be  compared  and  then  reverse  the  rations  for  an 
equal  length  of  time  to  eliminate  the  influence  of  individual  feeding  capacity 
of  the  horses.  Page  434. 

CLOVER  AND  TIMOTHY  HAY  COMPARED. — But  little  difference  was  observed 
in  the  value  of  clover  and  timothy  hay  when  fed  in  conjunction  with  corn, 
oats,  oil  meal  and  wheat  bran,  the  difference  being  slightly  in  favor  of  clover. 

Page  437. 

MIXING  GRAIN  WITH  CHAFFED  CLOVER. — The  results  show  a  slight  saving 
due  to  mixing  ground  grain  with  chaffed  clover  hay,  but  not  sufficient  to  jus- 
tify the  expense.  Page  444. 

CLOVER  AND  ALFALFA  HAY  COMPARED. — Horses  fed  alfalfa  and  timothy  ate 
less  grain  and  hay  and  gained  slightly  more  in  weight  than  those  fed  clover 
and  timothy  while  doing  the  same  amount  of  labor.  Page  447. 

ALFALFA  AND  TIMOTHY  HAY  COMPARED. — 20  to  22  percent  less  grain  was 
required  to  maintain  the  weight  of  horses  fed  alfalfa  than  those  fed  timothy 
hay.  Page  449. 

CORN  AND  ALFALFA  HAY  COMPARED  WITH  CORN,  OATS,  WHEAT  BRAN,  OIL 
MEAL,  TIMOTHY  AND  ALFALFA  HAY. — Horses  fed  corn  and  alfalfa  ate  22  per- 
cent less  grain  than  those  fed  the  mixed  ration,  and  lost  6  pounds  more  in 
weight  per  head  in  eight  weeks.  The  ration  of  corn  and  alfalfa  cost  6  cents 
less  per  horse  per  day  than  the  mixed  ration.  Page  452. 

GRINDING  CORN  AND  OATS. — Horses  fed  ground  corn  and  oats  with  wheat 
bran,  oil  meal,  timothy  and  alfalfa  hay  consumed  9  percent  less  feed  and 
gained  3  pounds  more  in  weight  per  head  in  six  weeks  than  those  fed  whole 
corn  and  oats  with  a  similar  ration.  Page  455. 

CONCLUSIONS.  Page  457. 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES 

BY  R.  C.  OBRECHT 
ASSISTANT  CHIEF  IN  HORSE  HUSBANDRY 

The 'problem  of  feeding  work  horses  is  one  involving  the 
economical  production  of  energy,  and  maintenance  of  health.  It 
is  of  considerable  importance  to  know  how  much  hay  and  how 
much  grain  a  farm  work  horse  at  hard  labor  should  receive  in  or- 
der that  he  may  work  with  the  greatest  efficiency  and  economy. 
With  high  priced  grains,  it  is  very  desirable  to  know  the  rela- 
tive value  of  different  roughages  in  order  that  economy  may  be 
practiced  in  making  up  a  ration  for  work  horses.  In  order  to  de- 
termine some  of  these  points  a  number  of  experiments  have  been 
conducted  at  this  Station  in  feeding  College  and  Experiment  Sta- 
tion horses  used  for  teaming  and  field  work. 

OBJECT  OF  THESE  EXPERIMENTS 

The  object  of  these  experiments  was  to  secure  data  for  a  com- 
parison of  rations  for  feeding  farm  work  horses  with  respect  to 
the  following  points:  (i)  maintenance  of  weight,  (2)  their 
health,  spirit  and  ability  to  endure  hard  work,  (3)  economy  of 
the  ration. 

In  Bulletin  141,  issued  by  this  Station,  it  was  shown  that  clover 
hay  is  greatly  superior  to  timothy  hay  as  the  roughage  part  of  a 
ration  when  fed  in  conjunction  with  corn  and  oats  for  fleshing 
horses  for  market.  The  question  has  been  frequently  asked  re- 
garding the  relative  merits  of  clover  for  feeding  farm  work  horses. 
In  order  to  throw  some  light  upon  this  subject  a  test  was  made  in 
which  clover  was  compared  with  timothy  hay. 

PLAN 

In  the  spring  of  1908  a  test  was  planned  involving  seven  teams, 
whereby  one  horse  in  each  team  \vas  to  receive  timothy  hay,  and 
the  other  clover  hay.  With  but  few  exceptions  each  horse  in  the 
team  worked  an  equal  number  of  hours  with  his  mate  and  at  the 
same  kind  of  labor.  After  three  months  one  team  became  unfit 
for  hard  work,  due  to  unsoundness  of  side-bones  and  spavins,  and 
had  to  be  discarded  from  the  final  results,  thus  leaving  only  six 
teams  in  the  test.  (Later  three  additional  teams  were  used.) 

433 


434  BULLETIN   Xo.  150  [August, 

The  roughages  used  were  choice  timothy  hay  and  choice  clover 
hay.  However,  the  timothy  was  of  slightly  better  quality  than  the 
clover  used,  which  was  the  best  obtainable  under  local  conditions. 
The  clover  hay  (medium  red  variety)  was  of  good  quality  and 
free  from  dust, , but  a  little  dark  and  contained  some  corn  stalks. 
Each  feed  of  hay  was  weighed  to  the  horse  and  recorded  and  any 
refuse  left  was  weighed  back  and  deducted  from  the  amount  fed, 
which  occurred  more  often  with  the  horses  receiving  clover  than 
those  receiving  timothy.  The  quantity  of  grain  fed  was  left  largely 
to  the  feeder's  judgment,  the  amount  being  determined  by  the  in- 
dividuality of  the  horse,  some  receiving  more  than  others.  The 
grains  fed  were  corn,  oats,  oil  meal  and  bran.  The  corn  was  of 
good  quality ;  the  bran  was  of  good  grade,  some  from  Minneapo- 
lis, and  some  from  Kansas  mills;  the  oil  meal  was  old  process 
pea  size. 

The  test  was  divided  into  periods  of  four  weeks  each  and  ex- 
tended over  twelve  periods,  or  336  days.  During  the  first  seven 
periods  one  of  the  horses  in  each  team  was  fed  timothy  and  the 
other  clover,  while  during  the  five  remaining  periods,  the  hay  was 
reversed  so  that  the  horses  first  receiving  timothy  received  clover 
and  those  receiving  clover  received  timothy,  thus  checking  any  dif- 
ferences in  the  individuality  of  the  horses. 

All  weights  of  the  horses  in  this  experiment  both  at  the  begin- 
ning and  close  of  each  period,  were  obtained  by  taking  the  average 
'of  three  days'  weights.  The  horses  were  weighed  in  the  morning 
after  receiving  grain  and  hay  but  before  watering,  on  the  day  pre- 
vious to  the  close  of  the  period  or  of  the  experiment  as  the  case 
may  be,  the  closing  day  and  again  the  following  day.  During  the 
hot  weather  a  few  of  the  teams  received  about  two  gallons  of  water 
in  the  morning  before  feeding  and  weighing,  the  quantity  always 
being  limited  and  the  same  amount  given  to  each  horse  in  the  team. 
There  is  bound  to  be  considerable  fluctuation  in  the  weight  of 
horses  from  day  to  day  owing  to  the  amount  of  water  consumed, 
the  work  done,  and  the  amount  of  perspiration.  Extreme  cases 
show  as  much  variation  as  seventy  pounds  on  succeeding  days  un- 
der similar  conditions  of  weighing. 

One  of  the  horses,  No.  59,  refused  to  eat  oil  meal  and  conse- 
quently it  was  omitted  from  his  ration.  This  horse,  apparently, 
was  not  in  the  best  of  health  for  he  did  not  consume  as  much  grain 
as  he  should  have  in  order  to  maintain  his  weight.  He  appeared 
well  but  for  some  reason  lacked  appetite  enough  to  consume  rela- 
tively as  much  grain  as  the  other  horses.  Each  horse  was  branded 
with  a  number  on  his  hoof  as  an  identification  mark  and  the  records 
of  the  horses  were  taken  by  numbers  rather  than  by  names.  The 
horses  varied  in  age  from  four  to  nine  years.  With  the  exception 
of  the  one  team  above  mentioned,  all  were  sound  and  in  good 
health  and  remained  so  thruout  the  experiment. 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES  435 

In  recording  the  amount  of  work  done  it  was  graded  as  hard 
and  medium  labor.  Hard  labor  involves  such  work  as  plowing, 
harrowing,  working  on  the  binder  and  mower  and  heavy  teaming, 
such  as  hauling  feed  and  manure.  Medium  labor  involved  such 
work  as  hauling  manure  over  good  roads,  shelling  corn,  light  cul- 
tivation, etc.,  some  of  which  might  be  called  hard  labor  by  many 
teamsters.  This  division  of  labor  is  of  course  an  arbitrary  one 
for  it  is  very  difficult  to  say  just  where  one  stops  and  the  other 
begins.  In  fact  it  is  the  total  number  of  hours  of  labor  that  is  of 
greatest  importance.  The  work  frequently  required  of  the  teams 
was  such  as  would  be  done  by  three  horses  on  most  farms ;  for  in- 
stance, plowing  and  working  on  a  disc  harrow  or  disc  drill.  How- 
ever, the  working  hours  were  not  so  long.  Ordinarily  the  teams 
were  started  to  work  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  worked 
until  six  at  night  with  one  hour  for  noon,  with  the  exception  of 
Saturdays  when  work  usually  stopped  at  five.  During  the  winter 
months  the  work  day  was  only  nine  hours. 

THE  HORSES 

The  horses  were  all  well-bred  grade  geldings  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  team,  Nos.  51  and  52,  which  were  mares.  Most  of 
them  showed  evidence  of  Percheron  blood,  tho  some  had  more 
of  the  characteristics  of  the  Shire  and  others  of  the  Belgian.  In 
selecting  the  horses  an  effort  was  made  to  get  them  as  nearly  uni- 
form as  possible  in  the  team  and  with  equal  feeding  qualities. 
They  were  all  in  good  condition  at  the  beginning  of  the  experiment. 

Two  of  the  teams,  Nos.  5  and  6,  belonged  to  the  Agronomy 
Department.  These  did  the  hardest  work  and  most  of  it  came 
during  the  spring  and  summer  months,  as  most  farm  work  does. 
Team  No.  4  was  owned  by  the  Department  of  Dairy  Husbandry. 
This  team  as  well  as  the  three  teams  owned  and  used  by  the  Ani- 
mal Husbandry  Department,  Nos.  i,  2  and  3,  worked  quite  hard 
almost  every  work-day  thruout  the  year.  It  frequently  happened 
that  the  hauling  of  feed  and  manure  over  bad  roads  during  the 
winter  months  was  quite  as  hard  as  the  farm  work  during  the 
summer,  with  the  exception  of  slightly  shorter  days. 

In  determining  the  cost  of  feeding  the  horses,  the  following 
prices  for  feeds  were  used  : 

Corn    50c  per  bushel 

Oats    40c  per  bushel 

Wheat  bran    $20.00  per  ton 

Oil    meal    $32.00  per  ton 

Clover  hay    $10.00  per  ton 

Timothy   hay    $12.00  per  ton 

Alfalfa   hay    $16.00  per  ton 


436 


BULLETIN  No.  150 


[August, 


TABLE  l.— TEAM  NUMBER,  HOOK  NUMBER,  L/OT  NUMBER,  BREED,  AGE, 
AND  INITIAL  WEIGHT  OF  HORSES  USED  IN  THESE  TESTS 


Team 

Hoof 
No. 

IvOt 

No. 

Predominance 
of  breed 
character 

April  2,  1908 

Age 

Weight 

1 

51 
52 

1 
2 

Percheron 
Percheron 

8 
7 

1379 

1378 

2 

57 
58 

1 

2 

.  Shire 
Percheron 

4 
4 

1395 
1375 

3 

60 
59 

1 

2 

\  Shire 
|  Percheron 
j  Percheron 
/  Shire 

4 
4 

1292 
1292 

4    • 

64 
65 

1 

2 

Belgian 
Belgian 

6 
7 

1338 
1420 

5 

66 
67 

1 
2 

Percheron 
Percheron 

7 
8 

1302 
1250       - 

6 

69 
68 

1 
2 

j  Belgian 
|  Percheron 
j  Percheron 
I  Belgian 

8 
9 

1393 
1348 

7 

72 
73 

1 

2 

j  Percheron 
|  Shire 
Shire 

March  27,  1909 

4 
4 

1309 
1303 

8 

74    . 

75 

1 

2 

Amer.  Trotter 
Amer.  Trotter 

5 
5 

1251 
1270 

9 

76 

77 

1 

2 

Amer.  Trotter 
Amer.  Trotter 

6 

5 

1003 
1094 

10 

79 

78 

1 

2 

Percheron 
Percheron 

March  26,  1910 

7 
7 

1560 

1482 

TABLE  2.— TEAM  NUMBER,  HOOP  NUMBER,  L/OT  NUMBER,  KIN^D  OF  HAY 
FED,  INITIAL  AND  FINAL  WEIGHT  AND  GAIN  OF  HORSES 


Team 

6 
to 

fH 
0 

o 

a 

d 

* 
-*j 

o 

a 

Kind  of  hay 
fed  April  2 
to  Oct.  15, 
1908 

Weight 

Gain 
or 
loss 
Ibs. 

Kind  of  hay 
fed 
Oct.  15,  '08 
to 
March  4,  '09 

Weight 
March   4 

Gain 
or 

loss 
Ib. 

April 
2 

Oct'r 
15 

1 

51 

52 

1 

2 

.Timothy 
Clover 

1379 

1378 

1386 
1441 

7 
63 

Clover 
Timothy 

1359 
1341 

-27 
-100 

2 

i7 
58 

1 
2 

Timothy 
Clover 

1395 
1375 

1382 
1380 

-17 
5 

Clover 
Timothy 

1515 

1555 

133 
175 

3 

60 
59 

1 

2 

Timothy 
Clover 

1292 
1292 

1319 
1259 

27 
-33 

Clover 
Timothy 

1377 
1239 

58 
-20 

4 

64 
65 

1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
2 

Timothy 
Clover 

1338 
1420 

1338 
1374 

00 
-46 

Clover 
Timothy 

1404 
1416 

66 

42 

5 

66 
67 

Timothy 
Clover 

1302 
1250 

1318 
1317 

16 

67 

Clover 
Timothy 

1363 

1289 

45 

-28 

6 

69 
68 

Timothy 
Clover 

1393 
1348 

1399 
1405 

6 

57 

Clover 
Timothy 

1568 
1408 

169 
3 

Aver- 
age 

1 

2 

Timothy 
Clover 

1350 
1344 

1357 
1363 

7 
19 

Clover 
Timothy 

1431 
1375 

74 
12 

FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES  437 

From  Table  i  it  will  be  seen  that  the  horses  were  fairly  un- 
form  in  size  and  age.  Table  2  shows  the  kind  of  hay  fed,  the 
initial  and  closing  weight  and  gains  of  the  various  horses  during 
the  first  seven  periods  of  the  test  and  also  during  the  last  five  peri- 
ods when  the  hay  was  reversed.  It  will  be  noticed  from  this  table 
that  Lot  i  averaged  six  pounds  heavier  per  horse  at  the  beginning 
of  the  experiment  than  Lot  2  and  made  12  pounds  less  gain  per 
horse  during  the  first  seven  periods  when  fed  on  timothy  hay  and 
62  pounds  more  gain  during  the  last  five  periods  when  fed  on 
clover  hay. 

The  average  daily  grain  and  hay  by  periods  are  grouped  to- 
gether in  Tables  3  and  4,  bringing  out  clearly  the  fact  that  the 
horses  receiving  clover  hay  consumed  slightly  less  grain  and  hay 
during  the  first  seven  periods  and  made  12  pounds  more  gain  per 
horse  than  those  receiving  timothy  hay.  When  the  hay  was  re- 
versed, Lot  i  getting  the  clover,  made  62  pounds  more  total  gains 
per  horse  during  the  last  five  periods  than  those  getting  timothy 
'hay,  but  it  will  be  noticed  that  they  were  also  getting  1.2  pounds 
more  grain  per  day  than  the  other  lot.  This  seemingly  large  gain 
should  be  attributed  in  part  to  the  greater  amount  of  grain  fed  as 
well  as  to  the  influence  of  clover.  During  the  first  seven  periods 
the  horses  receiving  clover  hay  did  the  same  amount  of  work  as 
those  receiving  timothy  hay  and  on  less  feed,  but  when  the  hay 
was  reversed  the  gains  decreased.  The  data  indicates  that  there  is 
but  little  difference  in  the  value  of  clover  and  timothy  hay  when 
fed  in  conjunction  with  corn,  oats,  oil  meal  and  bran,  for  feeding 
farm  work  horses  at  hard  labor,  the  difference  shown  here  being 
slightly  in  favor  of  clover.  It  should  be  definitely  understood, 
however,  that  it  is  not  the  common  practice  to  feed  as  great  a 
variety  or  as  near  a  balanced  ration  of  concentrates  as  was  used  in 
this  test.  Had  corn  alone  been  used  as  the  concentrate  quite  dif- 
ferent results  would  be  anticipated.  In  other  words  the  roughage 
part  of  the  ration  is  not  of  great  importance  when  the  grain  fed  ap- 
proximates a  well  balanced  ration. 

All  the  horses  in  the  test  remained  in  good  health  thruout  the 
experiment  excepting  Xo.  60,  which  was  subject  to  an  occasional 
attack  of  colic.  There  was  no  noticeable  difference  in  the  spirit 
or  the  ability  of  the  horses  to  endure  hot  weather.  The  horses 
receiving  the  clover  hay  had  glossier  coats  of  hair,  which  is  indica- 
tive of  thrift.  Their  bowels  were  looser,  but  not  to  such  an  ex- 
tent as  to  be  objectionable  for  doing  hard  work.  The  teamsters 
Avere  frequently  asked  as  to  the  zest  and  ability  of  the  horses  for 
endurance,  and  they  reported  that  no  observable  difference  could  be 
detected,  altho  most  of  them  had  been  prejudiced  in  favor  of  tim- 
othy hay  at  the  beginning.  Many  people  are  prejudiced  against  using 
clover  hay  as  feed  for  horses  fearing  it  will  produce  heaves.  Heaves 


438 


Bui.f.KTIN    NO.    ISO 


[August, 


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440  BULLETIN  No.  150  [Auyiut, 

is  a  digestive  trouble  and  more  likely  to  be  produced  with  clo- 
ver hay  than  with  timothy  due  principally  to  the  fact  that  clover  is 
more  palatable  and  consequently  a  horse  is  more  likely  to  gorge 
himself  with  it  when  given  all  he  will  eat.  Dusty  hay  is  more 
,  likely  to  produc  j  heaves  than  hay  of  good  quality,  and  the  danger 
from  feeding  it  may  be  lessened  by  sprinkling  it  with  lime  water. 
In  arriving  at  the  weight  of  a  horse  for  a  certain  feeding  period 
the  average  of  the  initial  and  closing  weights  were  used.  The 
weight  of  a  horse  being  a  variable  quantity  dependent  upon  the 
amount  of  flesh  carried,  should  be  taken  in  that  flesh  in  which  we 
wish  to  keep  him  when  at  work.  In  this  test  the  average  weight 
for  the  12  periods  was  used  and  the  grain  and  hay  per  100  pounds 
live  weight  computed  from  this  average. 

METHODS  OF  FEEDING 

Since  the  stomach  of  a  horse  is  a  comparatively  small  organ, 
the  average  size  being  only  3^2  gallons  while  that  of  a  cow,  of 
which  there  are  four  compartments,  has  a  capacity  of  55  to  60 
gallons,  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  horse  is  poorly  adapted  to 
consuming  relatively  large  quantities  of  coarse  feeds.  Due  to  the 
large  amount  of  crude  fiber  in  hay  it  requires  considerable  energy 
for  its  digestion  and  also  a  much  longer  time  than  grains,  In  feed- 
ing the  horses  used  in  these  tests  the  practice  was  adopted  of  giv- 
ing the  grain  in  approximately  three  equal  feeds,  fed  morning, 
noon  and  night.  The  morning  feed  was  given  between  5  and  5  130, 
the  noon  feed  at  12' and  the  evening  feed  at  6.  As  the  horses  be- 
gan work  at  7  o'clock  in  the  morning,  this  gave  them  a  full  hour 
and  one-half  in  which  to  consume  and  digest  their  feed  before 
starting  to  work.  One  hour  was  taken  for  the  noon  feed.  The 
hay  was  divided  into  three  feeds;  fully  half  and  sometimes  a  lit- 
tle more  was  given  in  the  'evening,  about  one-fourth  in  the  morning 
and  a  little  less  than  one-fourth  at  noon.  .  It  is  believed  that  much 
of  the  digestive  troubles  of  horses  are  due  to  the  over-feeding  on 
roughages  and  putting  them  at  work  with  a  distended  stomach  af- 
ter they  have  been  allowed  to  gorge  themselves  with  hay.  It  is  a 
better  plan  to  limit  the  hay  during  the  morning  and  noon  feed  and 
give  most  of  it  at  night  when  they  have  a  long  period  of  rest  and 
plenty  of  time  for  its  digestion. 

On  Saturday  nights  the  regular  grain  feed  was  omitted  during 
the  first  year  and  a  four  pound  bran  mash  given  in  its  stead.  This 
was  done  in  order  to  keep  the  horses'  bowels  in  good  condition,  but 
when  an  occasional  run  on  grass  is  given  the  bran  is  not  necessary. 
On  Sunday  the  noon  feed  of  grain  was  omitted  and  an  extra  four 
pounds  of  hay  was  given  in  the  morning  to  teams  Nos.  i,  2  and  3. 
The  other  three  teams  received  their  regular  noon  feed  of  grain 


FEEIHNC   FARM   \\"UKK  HORSES  441 

as  usual  on  Sundays  but  no  additional  hay.  During  other  idle  days 
for  whatever  cause,  after  one  day  had  elapsed,  the  grain  was  re- 
duced to  one-half  the  usual  amount  and  continued  for  four  days, 
when  it  was  gradually  increased  again  until  the  normal  amount  was 
given.  When  the  horse  was  put  to  work  he  was  put  back  immedi- 
ately on  his  regular  grain  feed.  This  was  done  to  prevent  azo- 
turia  and  it  seems  to  be  an  efficient  method. 

During  the  time  when  a  horse  receives  exercise  he  is  expending 
energy  and  his  system  readily  carries  off  the  waste  products,  but 
during  enforced  idleness  the  system  becomes  much  more  sluggish 
especially  when  the  horse  is  not  accustomed  to  inactivity.  For  this 
reason  he  should  not  be  fed  a  full  amount  of  grain  for  he  is  not 
expending  the  energy  he  does  when  at  work,  or  having  exercise, 
and  consequently  the  system  is  soon  likely  to  become  stagnant  in 
not  being  able  to  free  itself  of  the  waste  material.  After  the  elapse 
of  a  short  time  the  horse's  system  seems  to  readjust  itself  to  its 
new  mode  of  life,  then  there  is  not  the  clanger  from  giving  full  feed 
of  grain  that  there  is  when  he  is  not  accustomed  to  idleness. 

EFFECT  OF  MINGLING  GRAIN  WITH  CHAFFED  HAY 

Every  observant  feeder  has  noticed  that  some  horses  pass  a 
considerable  quantity  of  undigested  grain  in  their  feces.  Horses 
with  ravenous  appetites  are  more  likely  to  do  this  than  others,  due 
to  the  fact  that  they  do  not  chew  and  masticate  their  food  thoroly 
before  swallowing  it  and  are  given  insufficient  time  for  its  diges- 
tion before  being  put  at  hard  work.  This  is  especially  true  when 
at  hard  work  and  large  feeds  of  grain  are  given.  In  order  to  find 
a  means  of  preventing  this  loss  and  also  of  maintaining  the  health 
of  the  horses  it  was  decided  to  conduct  a  test  where  ground  grain 
was  mingled  with  chaffed  hay  for  one  horse,  while  the  other  in  the 
teams  received  ground  grain  and  the  same  kind  of  hay  unchaffed, 
but  the  grain  and  hay  were  not  mingled.  As  a  preliminary  study 
for  this  test  it  was  observed  that  from  an  average  of  a  number  of 
trials  conducted  with  the  Experiment  Station  farm  horses  it  re- 
quired about  thirteen  minutes  to  consume  five  and  one-half  pounds 
of  grain  (equal  quantities  of  ground  oats  and  cracked  corn)  when 
thoroly  dampened,  twenty-seven  minutes  to  consume  the  same 
quantity  when  fed  dry,  and  about  twenty-two  minutes  to  consume 
the  same  quantity  when  fed  whole  and  dry;  the  difference  in  time 
being  due  to  the  fact  that  ground  oats  and  cracked  corn  fed  dry 
require  a  longer  time  for  thoroly  mixing  with  saliva  in  preparation 
for  swallowing. 

In  carrying  out  this  test  of  feeding  the  ground  grain  mingled 
with  chaffed  hay,  the  entire  morning  and  noon  feeds  of  hay  were 
chaffed  and  the  grain  was  mingled  with  it.  In  most  cases  from 


442  BULLETIN  No.  150  \.-liujusi, 

three  to  four  pounds  of  chaffed  hay  were  fed  in  the  morning  and 
usually  from  two  to  three  pounds  of  chaffed  hay  were  given  at 
noon  and  two  pounds  of  chaffed  hay  in  the  evening,  the  remainder 
of  the  evening  hay  being  fed  whole.  A  like  quantity  of  long  hay 
was  fed  to  the  other  lot  of  horses  and  the  grain  was  ground  and 
fed  dry  in  the  usual  manner,  not  mixed  with  chaffed  hay.  It  was 
thot  that  the  chaffed  hay  -would  not  be  any  more  digestible  or  any 
more  nutritious  than  the  long  hay  except  as  it  would  cause  a  slower 
consumption  of  the  grain  and  a  more  complete  mastication  of  it. 
During  a  part  of  the  time  the  grain  mingled  with  the  chaffed  hay 
was  slightly  dampened  to  allay  the  dust  and  prevent  it  from  being 
inhaled  as  well  as  to  cause  the  grain  and  hay  to  adhere  to  each 
other.  The  dampening  of  the  chaffed  hay  and  grain  was  discon- 
tinued during  the  hot  weather  as  some  of  the  horses  would  not  al- 
ways thoroly  clean  up  their  feed  at  time  of  feeding  and  it  would 
soon  sour  when  left  in  the  feed  box.  If  the  grain  is  mingled  with 
enough  chaffed  hay  there  need  be  no  danger  of  foundering  horses 
from  over-feeding  as  they  will  get  so  much  crude  fiber  that  they 
are  not  likely  to  over-eat. 

XKW  KORSES  ADDED 

As  team  No.  2  was  later  disposed  of  they  were  no  longer  used 
in  these  tests,  but  three  new  teams  were  added.  Team  No.  7,  hoof 
Nos.  72  and  73,  were  used  by  the  Dairy  Department,  as  were  also 
team  No.  9,  hoof  Nos.  76  and  77,  a  five  and  six  year  old  pair  of 
geldings,  w7hich  showed  a  predominance  of  American  Trotting 
Horse  blood.  Team  No.  8,  hoof  Nos.  74  and  75,  were  a  pair  of 
five  year  old  grade  geldings,  which  showed  no  particular  predom- 
inance of  any  blood  unless  it  \vas  of  the  American  Trotting  Horse. 
They  were  used  by  the  Grounds  Department  in  caring  for  the  Uni- 
versity campus  and  drives.  Nos.  76  and  77  were  used  on  the  Uni- 
versity milk  wagon  for  the  retail  delivery  of  milk  thru  the  city. 
They  worked  seven  days  per  week  or  twenty-eight  days  a  period 
where  the  other  horses  in  the  experiment  worked  only  twenty-four 
days  per  period  at  the  most,  often  less.  This  team  made  the  route 
every  day  regularly  regardless  of  weather,  usually  starting  at  7 
a.  m.  and  returning  by  12:30  noon,  sometimes  a  little  earlier  and 
sometimes  a  little  later.  The  wagon  to  which  they  were  hitched 
weighed  1280  pounds  empty  and  2400  pounds  loaded;  the  usual 
route  was  thirteen  miles  long. 

With  the  discontinuing  of  team  No.  2  and  the  addition  of  three 
new  teams  it  became  necessary  to  re-lot  the  horses  in  order  to  bal- 
ance the  lots  and  make  them  as  nearly  uniform  as  possible.  Teams 
Nos.  i  and  3  were  reversed  so  that  Nos.  52  and  59  were  designated 
Lot  i  and  Nos.  51  and  60  Lot  2. 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES 


443 


TABI<E  5. — TEAM  NUMBER,  HOOF  NUMBER,   LOT  NUMBER,    METHOD  OK  FEEDING 
GRAIN,  AND  INITIAL  AND  FINAI,  WEIGHT  AND  GAIN  OK  HORSES 


Hoof 

L,ot 

Method  of 
feeding 

We 

ight 

Gain 

Method  of 
feeding 

Weight 

Gain 

Team 

No. 

No. 

grain  Mar. 
27  to  June 
19,  '09 

Mar. 

27 

June 
19 

loss 
Ib. 

grain  June 
19  to  Aug. 
14,  '09 

Aug. 
14, 
1909 

or 
loss 
Ib. 

52 

1 

Not  mixed 
with  hay   .  .  . 

1353 

1306 

—47 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1343 

37 

1 

51 

2 

Mixed  with 
hay  

1356 

1297 

-59 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

13^5 

8 

59 

1 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

12+1 

1165 

-76 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1162 

-  3 

3 

60 

2 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1391 

1319 

-72 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1292 

-27 

64 

1 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1395 

1334 

—61 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1312 

~2 

4 

65 

2 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1405 

1381 

-24 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1367 

-14 

5 

66 

67 

1 

2 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1361 
1295 

1333 
1273 

-28 
-22 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1329 
1261 

-  3 
-12 

(,9 

1 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1537 

1482 

-55 

Mixed  with 
chaff  ed  clover 

1489 

7 

6 

68 

2 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1429 

1399 

-30 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1392 

-  7 

72 

1 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1309 

1233 

-76 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1249 

16 

/ 

73 

2 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1303 

1251 

52 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1281 

30 

74 

1 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1251 

1221 

-30 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1231 

10 

8 

75 

2 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  hay.  . 

1270 

1250 

-20 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1252 

9 

76 

77 

1 
•j 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1003 
1094 

1003 
1069 

00 

-25 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

Not  mixed 
with  hay.  .  .  . 

993 
1071 

-10 

4 

Aver- 
age 
for 

1 

2 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

1306 
1318 

1259 
1280 

-47 
-38 

Mixed  with 
chaffed  clover 

Not  mixed 
with  hay  

1264 

1278 

4 

^ 

Table  5  gives  the  lotting  of  the  horses,  method  of  feeding  grain, 
weight  and  gain  of  the  individual  horses.  The  above  table  shows 
that  the  horses  receiving  the  grain  mixed  with  chaffed  hay  lost 
slightly  less  in  weight  during  the  first  part  of  the  test  and  gained 
more  during  the  last  part,  making  a  total  difference  of  15  pounds 
per  horse  in  favor  of  the  grain  mingled  with  chaffed  hay. 

Thruout  this  trial  the  horses  in  each  team  did  approximately 
the  same  amount  of  work  in  all  instances  and  consumed  approxi- 


444  BULLETIN  No.  150  [August, 

mately  the  same  amount  of  grain.  The  hay  fed  to  both  lots  of 
horses  was  of  the  same  quality  and  approximately  the  same  amount, 
the  only  difference  being  the  clover  which  was  chaffed  and  fed  with 
the  grain  to  Lot  2  during  the  first  part  of  the  test  and  Lot  i  during 
the  last  part.  The  timothy  fed  in  the  evening  was  given  whole  to 
both  lots  of  horses.  It  appeared  that  No.  77  of  team  9  weighed 
a  little  too  heavy  at  the  beginning  of  the  experiment  as  his  weight 
record  shows  a  decrease  in  weight  of  32  pounds  the  first  period 
and  after  that  he  maintained  his  weight  quite  regularly  or  'increased 
slightly.  No  other  horse  in  the  experiment  showed  such  a  marked 
falling  off  at  the  beginning  and  maintained  his  weight  so  well  af- 
terwards, which  indicates  that  this  horse's  weight  was  a  little  above 
normal  at  the  beginning  of  the  test.  Team  Nos.  I  and  3  received 
some  bran  during  the  first  period.  This  was  given  in  a  bran  mash, 
which  was  fed  on  Saturday  evenings  at  which  time  the  regular 
grain  feed  was  omitted.  At  the  beginning  of  the  third  period  bran 
and  oil  meal  were  introduced  into  the  ration  of  all  horses  and  fed 
with  the  regular  grain  feed. 

The  average  weights  by  periods  of  this  test  are  given  in  Tables 
6  and  7.  A  study  of  these  averages  will  show  that  Lot  2,  the 
horses  receiving  the  grain  mixed  with  chaffed  clover,  received  .4 
pound  more  grain  per  day  and  .3  pound  more  hay  than  those  not 
having  the  grain  mixed  with  hay  during  the  first  three  periods.  Lot 
2  lost  only  38  pounds  during  this  time  while  Lot  I  lost  47  pounds. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  period  the  method  of  feeding 
the  grain  was  reversed  so  that  the  horse  in  Lot  i,  which  previously 
received  the  grain  unmixed  with  hay  now  received  it  mingled  with 
chaffed  clover,  while  those  in  Lot  2  received  the  grain  unmixed 
with  hay.  A  summary  of  the  averages  per  horse  by  periods  is 
given  in  the  latter  part  of  Tables  6  and  7.  It  will  be  noticed  here 
that  the  total  grain  of  Lot  i  was  .3  pound  more  per  day  than  that 
fed  Lot  2,  while  the  hay  was  exactly  the  same.  The  results  show 
that  the  horses  receiving  the  grain  mixed  with  chaffed  clover  made 
a  total  of  four  pounds  of  gain  per  horse  while  those  not  having 
the  grain  mixed  with  hay  lost  two  pounds  and  all  the  horses  did 
practically  an  equal  amount  of  labor.  These  data  show  that  during 
the  entire  five  periods  the  horses  receiving  grain  mixed  writh  chaffed 
clover  lost  only  35  pounds  while  those  receiving  the  grain  fed  in 
the  usual  manner  lost  49  pounds,  making  a  difference  of  14  pounds 
in  favor  of  the  horses  receiving  the  grain  mixed  with  chaffed  clo- 
ver. While  the  results  show  a  saving  due  to  mixing  the  grain  with 
chaffed  hay,  ordinarily  it  is  not  sufficient  to  justify  the  expense. 

Numerous  observations  were  made  of  the  condition  of  the  feces 
of  the  various  horses  in  order  to  note  from  a  physical  examination 
if  more  grain  was  excreted  in  one  lot  of  horses  than  the  other.  It 
is  rather  difficult  to  detect  ground  grain  in  the  feces  and  as  there 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES 


445 


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446 


BULLETIN  No.  150 


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was  no  chemical  analysis  made  there  was  no  means  of  determin- 
ing the  quantity  passed  in  this  manner.  However,  it  appeared  from 
the  closest  observation  that  could  be  made  that  manure  from  the 
horses  receiving  ground  grain  mingled  with  chaffed  hay  had  less 
grain  in  evidence  than  those  receiving  the  grain  unmixed  with  hay. 
Where  the  hay  and  grain  were  mixed  the  feces  seemed  to  be  in  a 
better  condition  and  the  general  condition  of  the  horses  appeared 
to  be  slightly  better,  as  indicated  by  their  coat  of  hair. 

Where  horses  are  fed  a  heavy  grain  ration  near  the  limit  in 
quantity,  it  is  believed  it  is  beneficial  in  preserving  the  health  of 
the  horse  to  mingle  the  grain  with  chaffed  hay,  altho  the  results 
of  this  test  do  not  show  any  marked  saving.  No.  60,  which  was 
subject  to  colic,  had  fewer  attacks  when  his  grain  was  mixed  with 
chaffed  hay  than  when  fed  separate.  Where  the  grain  is  fed  with 
chaffed  hay  horses  are  obliged  to  consume  their  grain  much  more 
slowly  and  consequently  masticate  it  more  thoroly.  Corn  being  a 
very  concentrated  and  carbonaceous  feed  sometimes  produces  dele- 
terious results  when  fed  alone  in  large  quantities.  It  is  believed, 
however,  that  its  principal  danger  as  a  feed  for  horses  is  its  small 
amount  of  crude  fiber  and  low  protein  content.  If  a  sufficient 
amount  of  crube  fiber  in  some  form  or  other  were  introduced  into 
the  ration  it  would  produce  a  feed  which  would  compare  more 
nearly  with  oats.  For  this  purpose  choice  clover  or  alfalfa  hay  is 
preferred  to  timothy  or  straw  for  the  reason  that  the  clover  and 
alfalfa  furnish  more  protein  than  timothy  and,  too,  the  ends  of 
chaffed  alfalfa  and  clover  are  not  nearly  so  sharp  on  the  horse's 
mouth  as  chaffed  timothy  or  straw. 

CHAFFED  CLOVER  COMPARED  WITH  CHAFFED  ALFALFA 

At  the  close  of  the  above  test  on  August  14,  1909,  the  horses 
in  Lot  i  continued  to  receive  their  grain  mixed  with  chaffed  clover 
hay,  while  those  in  Lot  2  were  given  their  grain  mixed  with  chaffed 
alfalfa.  This  test  extended  over  five  periods,  from  August  14  to 
January  i,  1910,  in  which  chaffed  clover  was  compared  with 
chaffed  alfalfa,  as  a  supplement  for  the  grain.  The  results  of  this 
test  giving  the  average  daily  grain  and  hay  by  periods,  weight, 
gain  and  labor  record  are  set  forth  in  Tables  8  and  9. 

Tables  8  and  9  show  that  the  horses  receiving  alfalfa,  received 
one-fourth  pound  less  grain  and  one-third  pound  less  hay  per 
horse  per  clay  than  those  receiving  the  chaffed  clover.  Those  re- 
ceiving alfalfa  did  approximately  the  same  amount  of  labor  with 
less  grain  and  less  hay  and  made  a  little  more  gain  than  those  re- 
ceiving clover.  During  this  experiment  it  will  be  noticed  that  the 
alfalfa  was  gradually  increased  so  that  the  horses  became  accus- 
tomed to  it  and  there  was  an  opportunity  to  study  its  effect  upon 
them. 


448 


BULLETIN   No.   150 


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iyii\  FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES  449 

ALFALFA  COMPARED  WITH  TIMOTHY 

In  order  to  further  study  the  effect  of  alfalfa  hay  in  the  ration 
for  work  horses  it  was  decided  to  compare  it  with  timothy  hay. 
The  plan  of  the  test  was  the  same  as  previously,  excepting  that 
one' horse  in  each  team  should  receive  alfalfa  hay  and  the  other 
horse  timothy  hay.  January  i,  Lot  i,  the  horses  receiving 
the  chaffed  clover,  was  changed  to  a  ration  where  the  hay  fed  was 
all  timothy  while  Lot  2  was  continued  on  part  timothy  and  part 
alfalfa.  During  the  first  period  of  th'e  test  Lot  i  was  given  their 
grain  mingled  with  chaffed  timothy  and  Lot  2  with 'chaffed  alfalfa. 
Because  some  of  the  horses  seriously  objected  to  consuming  the 
chaffed  timothy,  due  perhaps  to  the  exceedingly  sharp  ends  of  the 
timothy  straw,  the  chaffed  timothy  was  discontinued  at  the  end  of 
Period  i  and  also  the  chaffed  alfalfa.  From  this  time  on  the  grain 
was  not  mixed  with  chaffed  hay  for 'any  of  the  horses.  From  10^2 
to  ii  pounds  of  alfalfa  and  5  pounds  of  timothy  per  horse  was  fed 
daily  to  Lot  2  until  the  end  of  the  period  when  they  were  put  on  all 
alfalfa.  The  summary  of  the  results  of  this  test  are  set  forth  in 
Tables  10  and  n. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  horses  of  Lot  2,  receiving  timothy  and 
alfalfa,  received  nearly  one  pound  less  grain  per  horse  per  day  and 
.2  pound  more  hay  than  those  of  Lot  i,  which  received  all  timothy 
hay  during  the  first  three  periods  of  the  experiment  from  January 
i  to  March  26.  During  this  time  the  horses  receiving  the  al- 
falfa hay  lost  seven  pounds  per  horse,  while  Lot  i  lost  nine  pounds 
and  all  did  approximately  the  same  amount  of  labor.  These  data 
would  indicate  that  where  alfalfa  hay  is  fed  as  part  of  the  rough- 
age ration,  it  will  in  a  measure  replace  some  of  the  grain. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  next  period,  March  28,  1910,  a  new 
team,  No.  TO  was  introduced  into  the  experiment  and  at  the  close 
of  the  first  period,  April  23,  team  No.  3  was  no  longer  used,  as 
they  were  later  disposed  of.  From  March  26  .to  May  21  Lot  i 
continued  to  receive  timothy  as  the  roughage  and  Lot  2  were  given 
all  alfalfa  with  the  exception  of  a  few  feeds  of  timothy,  which 
were  fed  to  some  of  the  horses  through  error. 

The  latter  part  of  Table  1 1  shows  that  the  horses  receiving  tim- 
othy hay  received  four  pounds  more  grain  per  horse  per  day  than 
those  receiving  alfalfa.  Both  lots  of  horses  lost  approximately  the 
same  amount  during  the  two  periods  Lot  i,  13  pounds  and  Lot  2, 
12  pounds.  The  horses  receiving  the  alfalfa  hay  did  an  average 
of  nearly  one-half  hour  less  work  per  day  than  those  receiving 
timothy;  this,  difference  being  due  largely  to  No.  75,  which  was 
unable  to  work  part  of  the  time  on  account  of  lameness  caused 
from  poor  shoeing.  It  will  be  noticed  that  this  horse  did  not  main- 
tain his  weight  any  better  than  the  other  horses,  even  tho  he  did 
not  work  all  the  time. 


450 


BULLETIN  No.  150 


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452  BULLETIN  No.  150  [August, 

During  the  time  Lot  2  received  all  alfalfa,  the  oil  meal  and 
bran  was  discontinued  from  their  ration  with  the  exception  of  a 
very  small  amount  which  was  fed  at  the  beginning  of  the  test. 

The  results  of  this  test  indicate  that  when  a  mixed  grain  ration 
of  corn  and  oats  is  fed  in  conjunction  with  alfalfa,  20  to  22  per 
cent  less  grain  is  needed  to  maintain  the  weight  of  work  horses, 
than  where  the  grain  is  fed  in  conjunction  with  timothy. 

CORN  AND  ALFALFA  COMPARED  WITH  CORN,  OATS,  BRAN,  OIL 
MEAL,  TIMOTHY  AND  ALFALFA 

At  the  close  of  the  above  test  it  was  decided  to  continue  feed- 
ing some  of  the  horses  on  alfalfa  and  omit  the  oats  from  the  grain 
ration,  feeding  all  corn.  One  horse  in  each  of  three  teams  was 
fed  in  this  manner,  while  the  other  horse  received  a  mixed  grain 
ration  of  corn,  oats,  oil  meal  and  bran  and  a  small  amount  of  al- 
falfa replaced  a  part  of  the  timothy.  The  test  extended  over  two 
periods  from  May  21  to  July  16,  the  results  of  which  are  set 
forth  in  Tables  12  and  13. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  horses  in  the  various  lots  did  an 
equal  amount  of  labor.  The  horses  getting  the  mixed  ration  with 
timothy  and  alfalfa  hay  received  an  average  daily  ration  of  18. 16 
pounds  grain  while  those  of  Lot  2  receiving  corn  and  alfalfa  got 
only  14.1  pounds  grain  per  day.  Both  lots  of  horses  received  the 
same  amount  of  hay.  This  helps  to  emphasize  the  conclusion  of 
the  previous  test,  that  where  alfalfa  is  fed  it  will  in  a  measure 
replace  a  part  of  the  grain;  in  this  case  about  22  percent.  At 
the  prices  of  feed  given  on  page  435,  the  ration  of  corn  and  alfalfa 
cost  6  cents  less  per  horse  per  day  than  the  mixed  ration,  which 
would  ordinarily  mean  a  saving  of  $15.00  to  $20.00  per  horse 
annually.  Those  getting  the  corn  and  alfalfa  lost  an  average  of 
eight  pounds  per  horse  while  the  others  lost  only  two  pounds  per 
horse.  At  no  time  during  the  test  were  there  noticed  any  delete- 
rious results  from  the  feeding  of  alfalfa.  The  horses  ate  it  with 
more  relish  than  timothy  and  it  did  not  prove  to  be  as  loosening 
to  the  bowels  as  clover.  The  alfalfa  hay  fed  was  bought  for 
choice  quality  but  some  of  it  contained  a  few  sand-burrs.  Part 
of  the  hay  came  from  Nebraska  and  part  was  purchased  from  a 
Kansas  City  firm.  The  timothy  hay  fed  from  March  26  on-  was 
not  all  of  the  best  quality,  some  of  it  being  slightly  mixed  with 
red  top  and  blue  grass. 

GROUND  GRAIN  COMPARED  WITH  WHOLE  GRAIN 

At  the  close  of  the  test  in  which  alfalfa  was  compared  with 
timothy  hay  where  a  mixed  grain  ration  of  corn  and  oats  was 
fed,  it  was  decided  to  conduct  a  short  test  of  six  weeks  in  which 


1911} 


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FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES 


455 


ground  grain  would  be  compared  with  whole  grain.  As  a  pre- 
liminary for  this  test  two  weeks  were  allowed  to  elapse,  in  which 
Teams  Nos.  i,  5,  6,  8,  and  10  were  fed  on  the  same  kind  of  grain 
and  hay.  The  test  began  on  June  4  and  extended  to  July  16. 
The  horses  in  Lot  i  received  whole  grain,  consisting  of  ear  corn, 
whole  oats  and  bran,  while  those  in  Lot  2  received  cracked  corn, 
ground  oats,  and  bran  the  same  as  Lot  i.  Both  lots  of  horses  re- 
ceived one  feed  of  alfalfa  hay  of  from  three  to  four  pounds  and 
two  feeds  of  timothy  hay  per  day.  The  ear  corn  fed  was  figured  on 
a  basis  of  shelled  corn.  The  summary  of  the  results  of  this  test 
are  given  in  Tables  14  and  15. 

It  will  be  noticed  from  Tables  14  and  15  that  the  horses  getting 
whole  grain  received  18.42  pounds  per  horse  per  day  while  those 
getting  the  ground  grain  received  17.12  pounds  per  horse  per  day. 
The  hay  fed  both  lots  was  approximately  the  same.  The  horses 
receiving  the  whole  grain  made  a  total  gain  of  18  pounds,  and 
those  receiving  the  ground  grain  made  a  total  gain  of  23  pounds. 
Considering  that  one  ration  was  approximately  as  good  as  the 
other  it  will  be  seen  tbat  there  was  about  9  percent  less  grain  fed 
where  it  was  ground  than  where  fed  whole.  Whether  or  not  it 
will  pay  to  grind  grain  for  horses  will  depend  much  upon  the  con- 
venience and  expense  of  grinding  and  also  upon  the  amount  of 
work  performed  by  the  horse.  When  the  teeth  of  the  horses  are 
good  they  will  do  very  well  on  whole  grain  but  when  horses  are 
worked  near  their  limit  and  it  is  desired  to  conserve  all  the  pos- 
sible energy  for  labor  there  may  be  economy  in  grinding.  Ground 
grain  is  slightly  more  digestible  than  whole  grain  and  it  is  usually 
considered  by  best  authorities  that  a  ten  percent  saving  in  the 
grain  can  be  effected  by  grinding,  which  is  in  harmony  with  the  re- 
sults of  this  test  tho  it  was  too  short  to  be  conclusive.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  when  the  labor  is  light  the  saving  will  not  be  so  great 
as  when  the  horses  are  at  hard  labor. 

TABLE  16 — AVERAGE  DAII.Y  COST  OF  RATIONS 


L,ot  1 

L,ot  2 

Cu 

x 

W 

Grain 

Hay 

Total 

Grain 

Hay 

Total 

Apr.  2  to  Oct.  15,  '08  .      . 

1 

$   .182 

$  .095 

f  .277 

$  .175 

$  .079 

$  .254 

Oct.  15  to  Mar.  4,  '09  .      . 

2 

.154 

.077 

.231 

.141 

.080 

.221 

Mar.  27  to  Aug.  14,  '09    . 

3 

.173 

.083 

.256 

.173 

.083 

.256 

Aug.  14  to  Jan.  1,  '10.      . 

4 

.174 

.084 

.258 

.172 

.113 

.285 

Jan.  1  to  May  21,  '10.  .      . 

5 

.174 

.092 

.266 

.146 

.111 

.257 

May  21  to  July  16,  '10.      . 

6 

.201 

.096 

.297 

.126 

.112 

.238 

June  4  to  July  16,  '10.      . 

7 

.202 

.099 

.301 

.184 

.100 

.284 

456  BrLLKTix  No.  150  [August, 

COST  OF  RATIONS  FED 

It  will  be  noticed  from  Table  16,  which  gives  the  daily  cost  of 
the  various  rations  fed,  that  in  experiment  i  where  clover  hay 
was  fed  Lot  2,  there  was  a  saving  of  about  two  cents  per  horse 
per  day  over  that  fed  Lot  i,  or  $8.40  per  horse  per  year.  This 
difference  is  due  principally  to  the  fact  that  clover  hay  is  cheaper 
than  timothy.  It  will  also  be  seen  that  the  horses  in  Lot  i  ate 
slightly  more  feed  than  those  in  Lot  2,  which  in  a  measure  ac- 
counts for  the  difference  in  the  cost. 

During  experiment  2  Lot  i  receiving-  clover  hay  was  fed  at 
an  expense  of  one  cent  more  per  horse  per  day  than  Lot  2  due  to 
consuming  more  grain  and  hay. 

There  was  no  difference  in  the  cost  of  the  rations  in  the  third 
experiment  as  both  lots  of  horses  received  the  same  kind  of  feed 
and  practically  the  same  quantity.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  clover  hay  fed  one  lot  was  chaffed  and  mingled  with  grain,  but 
no  account  has  been  taken  of  the  labor  involved  in  its  preparation. 

During  the  4th  experiment  it  will  be  noticed  that  where  alfalfa 
was  fed  Lot  2  the  ration  cost  about  three  cents  more  per  horse 
per  day  than  Lot  i,  which  received  clover. 

Where  alfalfa  and  timothy  were  compared  in  experiment  5, 
the  ration  of  Lot  2  receiving  alfalfa  was  about  one  cent  cheaper 
than  that  of  Lot  i.  The  grain  part  of  the  ration  of  lot  2  was 
about  three  cents  cheaper  than  that  of  Lot  i  because  of  the  smaller 
amount  consumed,  but  alfalfa  being  more  expensive  than  timothy 
the  economy  of  the  ration  fed  Lot  2  is  only  slight. 

The  greatest  economy  in  making  up  a  ration  is  brought  out 
in  experiment  6.  That  fed  Lot  2,  corn  and  alfalfa,  was  six  cents 
per  day  cheaper  than  that  fed  Lot  i,  which  consisted  of  mixed 
grain  ration  of  corn,  oats,  bran  and  oil  meal,  timothy  and  alfalfa 
hay.  While  the  ration  fed  Lot  2  was  entirely  satisfactory  the  test 
was  too  short  to  determine  \vhether  or  not  such  a  ration  would 
prove  satisfactory  for  an  indefinite  length  of  time.  A  saving  of 
six  cents  per  day  would  mean  a  saving  of  $21.90  per  horse  per 
year. 

The  ration  fed  Lot  2  in  experiment  7  was  two  cents  per  horse 
per  day  cheaper  than  that  fed  Lot  i.  This  difference  may  be 
credited  to  the  effect  of  grinding,  that  fed  Lot  2  being  ground 
grain  while  that  fed  Lot  i  was  whole  grain. 

CONCLUSIONS 

1.  Where  a  mixed  grain  ration  of  corn,  oats,  oil  meal  and 
bran  is  fed,  clover  hay  is  equally  as  efficient  if  not  a  little  superior 
to  timothy  for  horses  at  hard  work. 

2.  There  was  no  observable  difference  in  the  effect  of  clover 
and  timothy  upon  the  spirit  of  the  horses  or  their  ability  to  en- 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES  457 

dure  hot  weather.  Those  receiving  clover  had  a  glossier  coat  of 
hair  and  their  bowels  were  looser,  but  not  too  loose  to  endure 
hard  work. 

3.  When  clover  is  used  as  a  horse   feed,  the  quality  should 
be  good  and  the  quantity  fed  limited. 

4.  A  slight  saving  in  grain  may  be  made  by  mingling  it  with 
chaffed  hay,  but  the  saving  in  this  test  did  not  appear  to  be  enough 
to  justify  the  expense. 

5.  There  may  be  a  benefit  not  shown  in  these  tests,  in  pre- 
serving the  horse's  health,  by  mingling  the  grain  with  chaffed  hay. 
The  results  of  this  test  are  not  conclusive  on  this  point. 

6.  Where  the  grain   was  ground  and  mingled  with  chaffed 
clover  and  with  chaffed  alfalfa,  the  latter  proved  to  be  a  little  more 
efficient  in  preventing  loss  in  weight  of  horses  at  hard  work. 

7.  The  mingling  of  grain  with  chaffed  timothy  hay  did  not 
prove  satisfactory. 

8.  Where  alfalfa  hay  is  fed  as  the  roughage  part  of  a  ration 
for  farm  horses  at  hard  work,  less  grain  is  necessary  to  prevent 
them  from  losing  weight  than  where  timothy  hay  is  fed.     In  this 
test  there  was  a  saving  of  about  22  percent  of  grain. 

9.  Tho   too   short  to  be  conclusive  these  tests   indicate  that 
mature  horses  at  hard  work  can  be  maintained  quite  satisfactorily 
for  a  short  time,  at  least,  on  corn  fed  in  conjunction  with  alfalfa 
hay,  and  at  a  saving  in  cost. 

10.  A  saving  of  about  ten  percent  may  be  made  by  grinding 
the  grain  for  farm  work  horses  when  at  hard  labor. 

11.  It  requires  twice  as  long  for  horses  to  consume  ground 
grain  fed  dry,  as  when  the  same  quantity  is  fed  thoroly  dampened. 

12.  Farm  work  horses  at  hard  labor  should  receive  from  one 
and  one-fifth   to   one   and  one-third   pounds  of  grain,   and   from 
one  to  one  and  one-fourth  pounds  of  hay,  per  100  pounds  of  live 
weight  per  day,  in  order  that  their  weight  may  be  maintained. 

13.  Satisfactory    results   have   been    secured   by    feeding   the 
grain  in  three  equal  feeds,  and  giving  one-half  the  hay  at  night, 
the  other  half  being  divided  between  the  morning  and  noon  feeds. 

14.  The  grain  fed  should  be  reduced  one-half  on  idle  days 
until  four  days  have  elapsed,  or  until  they  are  again  put  to  work, 
when  it  may  be  again  increased  if  desirable.     By  following  this 
method  attacks  of  azoturia  were  prevented. 

15.  The  results  of  the  experiment  indicate  that  the  general 
impression   is  correct  that  horses  may  very  properly  be  given  a 
more  bulky  ration  when  idle  or  doing  light  work  than  when  at 
heavy  work.     It  is  believed  that  the  practice  of  permitting  work 
horses  to  gorge  themselves  with  hay  is  all  too  common. 


4.S8 


[August, 


No.  52 


TEAM  No.  1 


No.  51 


NEAR  HORSE  No.  59  OFF  HORSE  No.  60 

TEAM  No.  3 


FKKUING  FARM  WORK  HOKSKS 


459 


No.  64  No.  65 

TEAM  No.  4 


No.  67  No.  66 

TEAM  No.  5 


460 


BUU.KTIN    NO.    150 


[August, 


No   68  No.  69 

TEAM  No.  6 


No.  72  No.  73 

TEAM  No.  7 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES 


461 


No   74 


No.  75 


TEAM  No.  8 


No.  76  No.  77 

TEAM  No.  9 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


